5th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 17, 1998)

8-(1) Deregulate the system on security deposits and paid-in capital pertaining to foreign insurance companies

1. Complainant: Korean Embassy in Japan

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Finance

3. Complaint:

Under Japan's insurance-related laws, the amount of the security deposit for foreign insurance companies will be raised from 100 million yen to 200 million yen by April 1, 2000. In addition, when establishing a corporation here, paid-in capital of over 30 billion yen must be paid. As such uniform regulations reduce an insurance company's liquid assets and give rise to concern over problems arising with working assets, class-based implementation corresponding to a company's business results, number of staff members, etc., should be carried out.

4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:

There are some factual errors in this complaint (as of the year 2001, not 2000; 10 million yen, not 100 million yen, and one billion yen, not 30 billion yen), and we are in the process of verifying this with the complainant. From the perspective of protecting the policyholders, etc., in Japan, the security deposit system has set the minimum sum for business security money, and for capital, as well, the minimum necessary amount to ensure smooth execution of insurance work has been set. Operation under such a uniform system is thus appropriate, while class-based implementation would not be.